Australian report warns of possible damaging cyberattacks

CANBERRA, Australia - An Australian government report has found that extremist groups could have the capability to launch damaging cyberattacks on Australia within three years.

The report by the Australian Cybersecurity Center released says extremist groups seeking to harm Western interests currently pose "a low cyberthreat."

But the report says that while their cybercapabilities were "rudimentary" and capable of compromising only poorly secured internet-connected services, they showed signs of improving significantly in the near future.

The report says: "It is unlikely terrorists will be able to compromise a secure network and generate a significant disruptive or destructive effect for at least two or three years."

Minister Assisting the Prime Minister for Cybersecurity, Dan Tehan, told Australian Broadcasting Corp. that the threat of cyberterrorism is "real."